Occurrence of butterflies and moths (Insecta, Lepidoptera) in Mordovia State Nature Reserve

Abstract Background Faunistic research in protected areas is of greatest interest since these are the most unique places in the region. Many of these are islands of minimal anthropogenic impact, such as the Mordovia State Nature Reserve (Russian Federation), founded in 1936. The purpose of the publication of the basis of faunistic research - occurrences of species, is availability of factual information to a broad range of researchers and its implication in research on a wider scale. New information For the first time, a total of 7,606 records of Lepidoptera occurrences from the Mordovia State Nature Reserve with coordinates have been published as a dataset. It is necessary to embed them in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) in order to make them accessible to everyone. As a result of research from 2007 to 2021, more than 600 taxa were identified for the first time for the territory of Mordovia State Nature Reserve, including more than 450 species for the Republic of Mordovia, four species for the Middle Volga Region and eight species for the Middle and Lower Volga Region.


Introduction
Forests are the most important habitat for numerous invertebrates and vertebrates. Globally, forests are critical to climate, biodiversity and human well-being. Many authors noted the importance of biodiversity in forest ecosystems (Brockerhoff et al. 2017, Ammer et al. 2018, Chifundera 2019. In many parts of the world, forest ecosystems remain untouched and have not been exposed to anthropogenic activities. Such ecosystems are often considered as a biodiversity hotspot and often they are listed as protected areas (Mohd-Azlan et al. 2020, Vieira et al. 2019. Forest protected areas (nature reserves and national parks) can occupy both large and small areas in natural climatic zones and include typical ecosystems of such climatic zones. In the forest natural zone, such areas are untouched woodlands in which the fauna and flora are preserved in their original form (Simonov and Matantseva 2020, Teteryuk et al. 2020, Bondarenko et al. 2020. Recently, we have published lists of the Lepidoptera fauna of Mordovia State Nature Reserve (Bolshakov et al. 2021a, Bolshakov et al. 2018, Bolshakov et al. 2019, Bolshakov et al. 2021b). However, they did not contain detailed information with coordinates and dates of the occurrence of various Lepidoptera species. The aim of this work is to describe a dataset of up-to-date information on the occurrence of Lepidoptera in the Mordovia State Nature Reserve, which has been recently published in the GBIF as a Darwin Core Archive.

Sampling methods
Study extent: The Mordovia State Nature Reserve is located in the Republic of Mordovia (Central Russia). The area covers 321.62 km . It is almost entirely a forest protected area (forests occupy 89.3%). It is mainly covered with pine forests (Pinus sylvestris Linnaeus). They form pure or mixed plant communities in the southern, central and western parts. Partially, the area is covered by birches (Betula pendula Roth). They were formed at the former pine sites which had been cut down in the 1940s and 1950s and Sampling description: A variety of collection methods were used for conducting the research: manual collection, light traps and bait traps (Golub et al. 2012). The arrangement of traps tried to diversify the coverage of biotopes and geography of the Nature Reserve. Beer traps were also used for the research. The beer traps are a plastic 5-litre container with a window cut out in it on one side at a distance of 10 cm from the bottom. With the help of a load, a rope with a tied trap was thrown on to a tree branch at a height of 5 to 12 m from the soil surface (Ruchin et al. 2020). As bait, fermenting beer, white and red dry wine were used, with the addition of honey, jam or sugar.
Quality control: Each observation contains fundamental information, such as location (coordinates), date, name of observer and name of identifier. A large part of the coordinates was determined directly on site with the help of a GPS device. In other cases, these were geolocated with the help of publicly available Soviet topographic maps in scale 1:200,000. The margin of error in the measurement of coordinates was 50 m. The accuracy of determining coordinates was up to the fourth digit. In all cases, the WGS84 coordinate system was used.
Many species were identified by their genitals. Relatively complex groups of Microlepidoptera were primarily determined by the basic domestic manuals (Ler 1999, Ler 1997, Medvedev 1986, Medvedev 1981, Medvedev 1978

Geographic coverage
Description: The dataset contains information about the occurrence of Lepidoptera from the territory of Mordovia State Nature Reserve (Russian Federation). The main part of the research was carried out from 2007 -2021 (Fig. 1). Collection material from previous years was also used.

Taxonomic coverage
Description: Most individuals of butterflies and moths were identified to species (7,473) and a small part to genus (133). The taxonomic diversity of the research area is represented by 1372 taxa belonging to 61 families. Given the long-term nature of our research, this is an almost exhaustive list of species that reproduce in the region.
As a result of our research, from 2007 to 2021, more than 600 species were identified for the first time for the Mordovia State Nature Reserve. Previously published works were used as a basis of this research (Antonova 1974, Plavilshchikov 1964, Mozolevskaya et al. 1971, Sviridov and Susarev 2013, Feoktistov 2011 Komai, 1991). The greatest richness was found in three families: Noctuidae -233 species, Tortricidae -210 species, Geometridae -206 species (Bolshakov et al. 2021).
In this publication, we followed the GBIF taxonomy in most cases, with a few exceptions. In recent publications (Bolshakov et al. 2018, Bolshakov et al. 2019, Bolshakov et al. 2021b,  Bolshakov et al. 2021a,Bolshakov and Ismagilov 2020, Kuznetsov and Stekolnikov 2001, Sinev 2019etc.), Incurvariidae et Prodoxidae were treated as subfamilies within Adelidae s.l. due to the monotonous structure of the genitalia in that group. The Acrolepiidae were interpreted as a family due to the specific morphology of the species (Kuznetsov and Stekolnikov 2001). Phycitidae et Pyraustidae were also considered as families in connection with the peculiarities of morphology (Kuznetsov and Stekolnikov 2001) of the species and ambiguous results of preliminary molecular studies (Regier et al. 2012). The Satyiridae were interpreted as a family due to the peculiarities of morphology (Kuznetsov and Stekolnikov 2001) of species and the results of molecular studies (Wahlberg et al. 2003). Affiliation of Epiplemidae to the Uraniidae was rejected due to differences in morphology of the species (Kuznetsov and Stekolnikov 2001). The Thyatiridae were considered a family due to peculiarities of morphology of the species (Kuznetsov and Stekolnikov 2001). We consider Lemoniidae as a family due to the huge morphological differences from the representatives of Brahmeidae s. str. (Kuznetsov and Stekolnikov 2001). Formation period: 1936;1948;1970;1972;1973;2007-2021